Field of the Year

Olmsted Fieldof Westbrook, Maine

Earns STMA 2000 FootballField of the Year Honors

Dedication to excellence, focused manage-ment and plain old hard work earnedOlmsted Field of the City of Westbrook,ME, the 2000 STMA Football Field of theYear Award in the High School/Parks and

Recreation division. Olmsted Field is part of the 22 acres ofplaying fields within the city of Westbrook and under themaintenance program of sports field manager Lance Tibbetts.The fields are located throughout the city, at the elementary and middleschools, the high school, and in city parks.

The original Olmsted Field was developed at the city's high school in1965. It was a traditional native soil field seeded with cool-season grasses andwas used for football and band practices and for games. Tibbetts says, "Aseach year's football season progressed this field would have more exposedsoil than turf.

"In the late 90s, Westbrook undertook a major field construction/reno-vation project for its high school fields. Practice fields for football, soccer,and field hockey, and combination game and practice fields for softball andbaseball, were constructed in the surrounding woods on an upper level of theschool property. At the same time, Olmsted Field was completely renovated tobe used as the football and soccer game field," says Tibbetts.

All of these fields share common construction elements. They were excavated tothe native clay sub-base. This was topped by a gravel layer that contains a series ofperforated drainage pipes to channel excess subsurface moisture away from thefields. This was topped by a sand-based soil profile. The track surface surroundsOlmsted Field. This field also has a Musco lighting system, with six 150-foot lightpoles, which was installed many years ago with help from the National Guard. Thefacility has two concession areas and a press box and seats more than 2,000 spectatorsfor an event.

Tibbetts notes, "Olmsted Field has an 18-inch crown for surface drainage. Theother fields have a 1 to 1-1/2-percent grade from corner to corner. The surface wateris channeled into drainage swales that were placed around the perimeter of each field.Olmsted and the surrounding fields have Toro 2001 series in-ground irrigation systems.The control panels for these are located under the Olmsted Field press box."

Tibbetts has "worked with turf" since his graduation from Southern Maine Technical Collegewith an AAS in Plant and Soil Science in 1991. He joined the city as sports field manager in 1999He had previously been serving as Parks and Facilities Manager for the Town of Brunswick over-seeing their athletic fields as well as the parks. Before that, he worked as a lawn technician andthen a branch manager in the lawn care industry.

1 0 October 2001 ne.com

Safety, play abilityTibbetts' prime focus then and now is providing

safety and playability for the athletes while preserv-

ing and protecting the city's investment in its fields.

He says, "In order for Olmsted Field to stand up to

its first season of play, the practice fields would have

to absorb the full load of pre-season and in-season

practices. So initially we hit the maintenance on the

upper level fields the hardest. We slice seeded with

a mix of Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass,

aerated as frequently as the young turf could handle,

matched the fertilization program to the needs of

each field, and kept pushing the turf. We used the

same procedures on the game field, but there con-

centrated more on filling in and strengthening the

existing turf so we'd have a good base for the full

season of play."

The aggressive program paid off. All the fields

were ready by August 1 and handled their first season

well, despite heavy use. In subsequent seasons,

Tibbetts has been able to focus greater attention on

the varsity game field to produce and maintain a

dense green carpet of turf throughout the football

season. He schedules monthly fertilization for it and

the other sand-based fields, compared to three fertil-

izations a year for the general use fields. The football

field aeration program is aggressive, at least once a

month during the growing season, generally in two

"In April, therewasn't much ofa root systemestablished; to beready August 1,I knew we'd haveto be aggressive."

All that background was put to use at Westbrook.

He says, "When I came on board in April, the upper

level fields were completed, but had no turf. Olmsted

Field, which had been hydroseeded approximately a

year earlier, had about 90 percent turf cover, but didn't

have much of a root system established. All the fields

were scheduled for use by the first of August. I knew it

was going to take a very aggressive program to make

that happen."

Olmsted FieldMaintenance Program

April• Take soil samples for testing; analyze results• Roll entire field• Apply 24-5-11 fertilizer with pre-emergence weed control at

1-lb. of nitrogen (N) per 1,000 sq. ft.• Put down lines for javelin, discus and shot-put• Mow 1 to 2 times per week with rotary mower at 2-1/2-in.

height of cut

May• Apply 32-0-10 fertilizer at 1-lb. of nitrogen (N) per 1,000 sq.

ft.• Line field every Tuesday• Mow 1 to 2 times per week with rotary mower at 2-1/2-in.

height of cut• Start up irrigation system; check system for leaks and other

problems• Core aerate in two directions, leave plugs

June• Apply 32-0-10 fertilizer at 1-lb. of nitrogen (N) per 1,000 sq.

ft.• Line field every Tuesday• Mow 3 times per week with reel mower at 1.78-in. height of

cut• Monitor for weeds following IPM practices, apply herbicide if

needed• Monitor for insects following IPM practices, apply insecticide

if needed• Core aerate in one direction, leave plugs• Slice seed one direction, 40-ft. from edge of track into field

July• Apply 32-0-10 fertilizer at 1-lb. of nitrogen (N) per 1,000 sq.

ft.• Line field every Tuesday• Mow 3 times per week with reel mower at 1.78-in. height of

cut• Monitor for insects following IPM practices, apply insecticide

if needed• Core aerate in two directions, leave plugs

• Topdress with 45 tons of washed sand, drag in two directions• Overseed with 50/50 mix of Kentucky Bluegrass/perennial rye-

grass at 3 Ib. per 1,000 sq. ft.• Irrigate lightly each day to keep seed moist through germina-

tion; then irrigate deeply three days per week, or as weatherconditions warrant

August• Apply 18-0-18 fertilizer at 1-lb. of nitrogen (N) per 1,000

square ft.• Mow 3 times per week with reel mower at 1.78-in. height of

cut• Install football goal posts• Put down football grid; paint soccer lines in royal blue

September• Apply 24-5-11 fertilizer at 1-lb. of nitrogen (N) per 1,000 sq.

ft.• Line field every Tuesday and Friday• Mow 3 times per week with reel mower at 1.78-in. height of

cut (or 1.5-in. if weather conditions allow• Slice aerate in one direction with shatter tines• Apply 50/50 mix of Kentucky Bluegrass/perennial ryegrass to

divots

October• Apply 21-3-21 fertilizer at 1-lb. of nitrogen (N) per 1,000 sq.

ft.• Line field every Tuesday and Friday• Mow 2 to 3 times per week with reel mower at 1.78-in. height of

cut (or 1.5-in. if weather conditions allow)• Late October - core aerate in two directions, leave plugs• Late October - slice seed with 50/50 mix of Kentucky

Bluegrass/perennial ryegrass• Apply lime if needed according to soil test results

November• Winterize irrigation system• Remove goal posts• Winterize equipment

http://www.sportsturfmanager.com • STMA SportsTurf 1 3

Field of the Year

Olmsted Field, Westbrook, ME, hosts most of that town's biggest sporting events, and wellover 115 events each spring through fal l .

directions each time. The methods of aerification are varied to fit turf needs andthe field use schedule. Cores are not collected on the football field unless they areespecially heavy or the field will be topdressed. A rotary mower is used early in theseason to help stand up the turf after the winter and to avoid any unexpected debris

that might damage the more expensive reel mower.

Turf height is then maintained at 1-7/8-inches with

the reel mower. When natural precipitation is good

in the late summer and fall, the turf height will be

lowered gradually to 1-1/2-inches during the playing

season. The field is overseeded heavily in July with a

50/50 mix of Kentucky bluegrass and perennial rye-

grass. Overseeding continues regularly through the

end of the growing season.

Tibbetts works directly for the City Recreation

Department and plans and implements the field

maintenance programs for all of the athletic fields

within the city, including those on school grounds.

During the school season, primarily the student ath-

letes use the fields on school sites, with other uses

coordinated by Tibbetts. During the summer

months, he coordinates the field use schedules for

all the fields, spreading the usage to the school sites

as well.

The "average" annual use schedule, just for

Olmsted Field, follows. In the spring, it hosts 30 track

practices and four two-school track meets, one regional

track meet that pulls in 10 teams, and a corporate track

meet for one of the city's major industries. All track

meets use the football field for the discus and javelin

events, and as the staging area for the on-track events.

During the summer months, the field is used for the track and field events of

recreational programs. This involves another 36 practices and three meets.

Things step up a few notches in the fall. The varsity football team plays seven

home games on the field. The girls' soccer team plays 10 games; the boys' soccer

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Olmsted Field's condition is more remarkable because Tibbettsonly full-time, all-season employee responsible for its care.

team plays 12 games. Tuffy Football plays their All-Star game under the lights onenight. The Youth Soccer Program takes over the field another night, allowing severaldifferent teams to play. There's also one regional band competition that brings from 10to 15 bands to the field.

Tibbetts says, "This kind of scheduling is typical for our fields. All of the fielduse programs start as early as possible in the spring. Traditionally, it takes between2-3 weeks after snow melt for the playing surfaces of the native soil fields to firm upenough for activity. We can get on the sand-based fields sooner. We'll schedulefield use as late in the season as necessary to complete the school and recreationalprogram sports events. General recreational use of the fields takes place wheneverweather permits. To preserve field quality, we'll rotate specific fields out of playtemporarily to allow them to recuperate or to perform the more disruptive mainte-nance procedures."

Maytag manTibbetts credits the dedication of his staff for keeping the fields in top condition

to support all this activity. Doing so is even more remarkable because Tibbetts isthe only full-time, full season individual for field maintenance. Tom Pollis hasworked with him for 3 years as a full-time employee from April through August andon a part-time basis from September through March. Kevin McCrillis and MikeDidonato are in their second season of working full-time from April throughAugust. Recreations maintenance worker Norman Kinney handles trash detail onall of the fields, which gives Tibbetts and staff more time to focus on field mainte-nance. Tibbetts says, "These fellows make an excellent team. They'll do whateverit takes to get the job done and give the community's kids the kind of fields theydeserve to play on."

As with most parks and recreation systems, public use of open fields can become amaintenance issue. Tibbetts designates a couple of fields each year to be kept at aminimal maintenance level, yet within the safe zone, for general public recreationaluse. These fields become the prime sites for pick-up ball games, rocket launchings,and just about anything else one can imagine.

Preserving field quality at the high school site requires extra vigilance because of awalking trail, open to the public and heavily used, that not only winds through theproperty, but also even connects to the track surrounding Olmsted Field. The openfield has great appeal for the weekend warriors that have a hard time letting go of thefootball fantasies of their youth. There's also the issue of those dog walkers who allowtheir dogs to run unleashed. Tibbetts and his staff members will drive by the fieldsperiodically to check for unauthorized usage and direct the abuscrs to the general usefields.

Tibbetts notes, "The support and cooperation from the city have been excel-lent. They've provided the tools and equipment that let us get the job done. Mysupervisor, recreation director Randy Peters, is tremendous. He personally han-dled the mowing of Olmsted Field before my arrival to keep the turf in shapeduring the post-grow-in transition from the contractor to the city maintenanceprogram. He'll still pitch in, if needed, to help with a maintenance procedure.Our athletic director, Matt Nelson, and our coaches also are committed to excel-lence in field conditions and arc dedicated to their role in preserving the fields.Watching the reactions of the young athletes to playing on a premium fieldmakes the effort worthwhile for all of us."

http://www.sportsturfmanager.com • STMA

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